25th MKIV #9772 Build NOR*CAL: post paint checklist

[toadster]

The cobra is home! Everyone is asking what the car's name is... LOL, I have no clue! Give me some ideas!

Also, I took the car to our local Cars & Coffee - got a LOT of eyeballs on it!

[toadster]

adjusted the ride height in the rear, the front is perfect at 4" and the rear was also 4" - we raised the rear to 4.5" because over bumps the 315s out back would rub the body a bit

IMG_3437.jpg

took the car for alignment - to a place I've never used, but was recommended
unfortunately they didn't feel they could adjust the camber properly without disassembling the front upper arms and placing shims to bring the camber up

For a car using power steering car use the following specifications:
Caster: 7
Camber: -0.5°
Total Toe: 1/16”

2015 IRS only
Camber: -0.5°to -0.75°
Total Toe: 1/8” Toe in

IMG_3444.jpg IMG_3443.jpg

they wanted $800 to do this... needless to say I paid them $35 for a diagnostic fee and drove home... will hit up another local spot that i KNOW has worked on FFRs before

[Jeff Kleiner]

They clearly don’t know what they’re doing.

Jeff

[BradC]

Owning two of the eyeballs that were on your car that day I will confirm the collective oversized thumbs up there was on it! Nice job!!

Pretty sure Eddie at Tire Pros will do it. They did my 33 and it's a PIA. And they only charged me like $180 I think for 4 wheel.

[toadster]

Some small adders today - did the rear view mirror, side mirrors and the wind wings



also installed the Breeze radiator cowl cover, this was a tricky 1 man job
Thankfully I pre drilled everything prior to the body going on, I really like how this part buttons up the front of the engine bay and will keep the air flowing through the radiator and not up and over the engine



also added the side badges

[toadster]

simple stuff since it's 112 outside, garage is barely keeping up around 86-89 with the A/C running...

visors and rear view mirror - with square nuts this time
a LOT of sanding/grinding to get the 8-32 nuts to fit into the windshield channel (for the mirror) - but much easier than trying to hold a hex nut with a screwdriver (because they spin)



also hooked up the fuel filler hose and ground strap - now I can actually get some gas in the tank, will probably do 1/3rd of a tank to get it aligned this friday

also working on the license plate light wiring, and adding an LED light bar to the filler plate to light up the trunk a bit more when the interior lights are on (pics to come!)

also, the rear view camera/backup light setup with my license plate frame won't work in the current setup, either the camera on top blocks the license plate lights, or with the camera on the bottom, the trunk won't open
more planning needed !!

[Mike.Bray]

visors and rear view mirror - with square nuts this time
a LOT of sanding/grinding to get the 8-32 nuts to fit into the windshield channel - but much easier than trying to hold a hex nut with a screwdriver (because they spin)

You're not going to like this but if you use 6-32 square nuts they slip right in. Got that from Mr. Kleiner.

[toadster]

You're not going to like this but if you use 6-32 square nuts they slip right in. Got that from Mr. Kleiner.

yes I used 6-32 on the visors, but couldn't get them to work on the rear view mirror... had to go with 8-32

[toadster]

got my new appointment to get aligned, the guys at BigO didn't disappoint! only $129 and 1.5 hours - dialed in!

alignment-July-2024.png

[Jeff Kleiner]

Those are good numbers Todd. Set your tires to 22-23psi and the car ought to drive great!

Jeff

[toadster]

Those are good numbers Todd. Set your tires to 22-23psi and the car ought to drive great!

Jeff

Thanks Jeff! I've been wondering about the tire pressure... I believe they're at 35psi right now, but tracks EXTREMELY well compared to previously!

If I check the Yokohama site it says this:

The optimum 'working' tyre temperature of the Yokohama Advan A052 is around 40 degrees Celsius, with a temperature spread of 10-15 degrees across the tyre tread area.
Yokohama recommend the following technical set up: Optimum hot pressure dry use 2.0 - 2.2 bar or 29-32lbs. Minimum cold air pressure is 1.4 bar or 20lbs

[Jeff Kleiner]

Trust me, the car isn't heavy enough to create full tread contact when they are run that high. With that much pressure the tire will be overinflated for the load and only running on the center of the tread.

Jeff

[toadster]

tidying up some items before the inspections... one item was a VERY touchy brake light - we thought this was resolved prior to the body going on, BUT it stayed...

crawling into the driver footbox is a contortionists dream! fortunately the seats aren't attached yet, so that simplified things a bit

the problem is that with the Whitby power brake pedal and the Wilwood pedal setup is that the mount point for the brake switch is about 1/8th of an inch too short with both hex nuts attached
this would cause the brake lights to stay on, and would actually 'flutter' when driving because the switch was right on that edge on open/closed when driving and the pedal riding on the switch

we need the switch to move closer to the brake pedal by about 1/8" of an inch that nut is just a bit too thick!


getting into the footbox took sheer will, and some stretched neck muscles for sure!

this is my son Ryan (who is 6'3") and barely can get in the footbox, I'm sure I filled in the space a bit more LOL


the goal was to use a crescent wrench to loosen the top nut while keeping the switch intact to allow us to remove the switch and the nut behind the switch and replace it with a simple washer, not sure if this will hold over time but need to get this fixed or it won't pass brake and light inspection

with a thin washer in place of the nut, and hopefully tightened down enough the brake pedal switch is now kept open at rest, and works as expected - need to go-kart a bit more to test it out
you can see the much thinner washer and it moved the switch ever closer to the pedal bar

[toadster]

doing more post-paint checklist items:

1. shortened the seatbelts a bit more, I tell that that's fun with the body on! it helps to have the speakers removed though to get a few hands in there! Now they're pretty snug, and I feel better to attach the seats and submarine belt.
2. figured out my turn signal/dash flashing issue - was a bad LED bulb, I put the incandescents in for now in the front - a replacement LED is on it's way and I'll test again
3. buttoned up my dash and re-installed the speedometer (which was removed to ease access behind the dash when we were chasing the weird electrical issue in #2)
4. fixed a bad ground in the rear of the car, essentially the ground to all the trunk lighting was dead, installed a new ground in the trunk and all good
5. installing an LED in the trunk cover (from DWC) to give more light from the top/inside of the trunk


6. was fidgeting with the license plate lights, how we found the bad ground, and I snapped off the screw


7. #6 forced me into my backup camera install, got things drilled, now I just need to mount it

[toadster]

had more fun finishing up the rear view camera setup... not for the light of heart for sure

from my last post, since the screw post snapped on my license plate light, this is the time to get this mod done - was going to wait for after registration, but - without the light cover attached, I figured it would fail inspection

now - in order for the camera to fit into the light fixture, the grounding bar is in the way where the camera will sit - the nice part is that the ground bar is a bit higher than the actual camera spot I located, just a hair below the screw post
I used the 18.5mm hole saw and cut a raw hole



notice that the bar still is connected, so there's ground continuity to both lights for the license plate

next up, I needed a little more width for the screws I was going to use , the ground bar isn't wide enough, so two 1/8" holes were drilled and I added a small aluminum bar to overhang the grounding bar a bit



using some small rivets, I was able to place the two the extension bar just between the ground and positive bars, without touching - there's plenty of clearance


top view of the result - the new #25 holes with #10-24 tap will be used next

[toadster]

next up, spacing out the exterior screws, I used #10-24 since I have a boatload of them

measured equal distances from center and use a 7/16 bit for the bolt holes


once the exterior holes were drilled, then I could use a #25 drill bit and then tap the holes for 10-24 screws
also note, I had to use the 18.5mm hole saw on the added aluminum bar as well



hopefully you can see the tolerances between the lights, screws and positive/negative bars

[toadster]

here's the camera I used - 1080P Backup Camera

we had to clock the camera a bit to get it aligned, pretty simple after all the installation



and the finished result

[Fman]

Nice work Todd, how is your A/C working for you? Can you drive the car on a 90+ degree day and not turn into a baked potato?

[Mike.Bray]

That backup camera is neat, it would be handy to have on all the time as the rearview mirrors I have don't give the best view. I doubt if I have the energy to add it to a finished car though.

[toadster]

That backup camera is neat, it would be handy to have on all the time as the rearview mirrors I have don't give the best view. I doubt if I have the energy to add it to a finished car though.

to be honest, on a finished car it would be a bit of a chore with the wiring, neat idea for always on, but then I'd never see the radio screen

Nice work Todd, how is your A/C working for you? Can you drive the car on a 90+ degree day and not turn into a baked potato?

it does rather well! keeps the footbox nice and cool, got sunburnt yesterday not realizing how much sun was on us! LOL

[460.465USMC]

A backup camera in the license plate light housing...who would have thought? Pretty cool! Things are coming together very nicely, Todd. Looking great!

[toadster]

did my first fillup last night, I even got .10c off per gallon, stupid CA gas prices



and before you ask, this is the Boyds gas tank

[toadster]

a few more things to get the build a few more steps along...

installed an LED into the DWC filler panel, this adds a TON of light into the trunk - as you can imagine, stuffing your trunk full of stuff can block the trunk lights - this gives you a nice overhead light to see




added my exhaust hangers, and used rivnuts like many have so I didn't have to bolt through the 2" square tubes
I'm using the Gas'N hardware and may change over time to a different exhaust hanger setup, but these Coyote 4-in-1 headers mount pretty well to the Gas'N side pipes
note: pics below are basic setup, not fully tightened down



lastly, also mounted my Drummer Mike Side Pipe Shields - these are REALLY nice quality!
I tweaked my install a little bit... added some high-temp gasket material to the exhaust wrap that sits inside the bands between the exhaust pipe and the shield - REALLY simplified installation by holding the gasket in place!

[toadster]

I also used some leftover zero-clearance shielding from Breeze Automotive to add another layer of insulation to really reduce temps




will do some temp comparisons soon to show the heat difference...

CHP inspection tomorrow!
pre-drilled my plate mount



getting closer to being fully registered!!

[Fman]

a few more things to get the build a few more steps along...

installed an LED into the DWC filler panel, this adds a TON of light into the trunk - as you can imagine, stuffing your trunk full of stuff can block the trunk lights - this gives you a nice overhead light to see




added my exhaust hangers, and used rivnuts like many have so I didn't have to bolt through the 2" square tubes
I'm using the Gas'N hardware and may change over time to a different exhaust hanger setup, but these Coyote 4-in-1 headers mount pretty well to the Gas'N side pipes
note: pics below are basic setup, not fully tightened down



lastly, also mounted my Drummer Mike Side Pipe Shields - these are REALLY nice quality!
I tweaked my install a little bit... added some high-temp gasket material to the exhaust wrap that sits inside the bands between the exhaust pipe and the shield - REALLY simplified installation by holding the gasket in place!

FWIW If your pipes start to sag you can toss out that rubber grommet and go with thicker exhaust straps which won't stretch out and will hold the pipes level. Those drummer mike shields look great, it's too bad he stopped making them... top notch quality!

[toadster]

FWIW If your pipes start to sag you can toss out that rubber grommet and go with thicker exhaust straps which won't stretch out and will hold the pipes level. Those drummer mike shields look great, it's too bad he stopped making them... top notch quality!

thanks Travis - I have those straps on my Amazon wishlist will see how they go - these 4-into-1 header flange mounts are pretty sturdy - the pipes seem dead on after 195 miles so far but now at least they're supported a bit more now

agree, the drummer mike shields are excellent quality - I got them just as prices doubled! ouch!

[Mike.Bray]

I wrapped one of these around the rubber grommet to give it some extra support without taking out all of the flex.

[toadster]

I wrapped one of these around the rubber grommet to give it some extra support without taking out all of the flex.

cool idea! I could probably even use a 4" metal bands and tighten down, may come loose over time though...

also, here's a temperature pic of the exhaust - the Drummer Mike Shields with the zero-clearance makes a HUGE difference!!

the pics were taken about 3 minutes after the car was shut down - yes that's 53 degrees cooler with the shields and insulation!



another postitive today, passed brake and light inspection ($225 eek!)
also got my VIN # from CHP, just need to wait for my SPCNS number to be assigned to visit the BAR Referee to finish my SB100 - then back to DMV to finalize plates!

[Nigel Allen]

Hi Todd,
I have similar shields on my side pipes (legally required here) although drummer Mikes are nicer . They work well.

The temperature readings you are getting may be false as infra red sensors don't get along well with reflective surfaces.

Cheers,

Nige.

[Mike.Bray]

The temperature readings you are getting may be false as infra red sensors don't get along well with reflective surfaces.

Or curved surfaces. We use contact thermocouples in these types of situations.

[toadster]

little things while I wait for my SB100 paperwork to arrive... slow process, but at least nearly done!

added the rear fender shields and the whitby fillers for behind the seats
IMG_4162.jpg


it's crazy the size of the gap in the rear wheel well

IMG_4159.jpg IMG_4158.jpg IMG_4161.jpg
not a pretty install, I had to flip both parts top/bottom to fit the body spacing - but it will seal up the wheel well, and honestly who sees this?

have a car show this saturday - no plates yet, but hopefully nobody will complain

[toadster]

another pic of the rear shield (passenger side) used Raptor bedliner coating - it's not super thick (at least the spray can version) but it will hopefully remove some of the resonance/tinny sound for rocks

IMG_4242.jpg IMG_4243.jpg IMG_4246.jpg

In case you're wondering, the blue hose is my fuel vapor canister (link to install)

[Fman]

IMHO, these are worth the $$$ will prevent any starring in your paint from a hard rock hit in you wheel well.

http://vraptorspeedworks.com/mk-4-wheel-well-liner-kit/

[toadster]

IMHO, these are worth the $$$ will prevent any starring in your paint from a hard rock hit in you wheel well.

http://vraptorspeedworks.com/mk-4-wheel-well-liner-kit/

Thanks Travis - yes they're on my list, will have to customize them a bit due to the footbox blowers in front - I think you re-purposed your blowers right? any pics of your liner install?

[JohnK]

I agree with Travis on the recommendation for the wheel well liners. Besides giving a clean, finished look they will prevent rocks from being kicked up and hitting the underside of the body. Bed liner on the underside will protect, to a point, but IMO these provide far more protection. Here's a link to how I installed the rear liners. I didn't post an update to my build thread about the front liners, but they're basically the same process, other than coming up with some way to secure the front of the liners. One note worth mentioning, splash guard positioning is important, as it will determine how deep into the wheel well the liners sit. If the splash guard is close to the edge, the wheel well liners and their bulb seal will be very close to the fender lip. I wanted them a bit recessed and out of sight so I ended up doing a bunch of trimming to the splash guards to set them further back than the typical install to give plenty of room for the wheel well liners.